Grad Diaries III: Dealing with Uncertainty

A LOT has changed since my last Grad Diaries update. As of today, I have been social distancing for a little over a month. My school closed in the middle of March and my job closed about two weeks after. Now I am working remotely like a significant portion of the population. 

Working from home has been an adjustment. I certainly miss seeing my classmates and my work community, but I am thankful that I have the means to navigate this transition given so many others do not. Last week, I registered for Fall courses. But at this time we don’t know whether classes will be held in person or online. My school is prepping to hold classes online until further notice, and I know many schools are planning to do the same. Many of my colleagues are nervous about the timeline for completing our required research, especially for any components of internships and projects that cannot be transitioned to online. There is no word for what will happen to our work in the summer either. Of course, this is within reason because no one really knows how long we will continue like this. So in the meantime, we are just doing what we can with the tools that we have. 

While I’m gathering that some students like online classes, I do not find online classes easier than going in person. I think the only thing that benefits me is that I do not need to commute to school, which saves time and money. When we transitioned to online courses, my school was about to go on Spring Break so we were able to get set up without disrupting class. However, midterms took place as scheduled right after break ended and it was not great. For two of my courses, we had so many technical difficulties the exam had to be extended by 45 minutes to accommodate. We tried to use software to record our screens, but ended up having to turn our cameras on so that our professors could watch us. The worst part of that I could see the stressed faces of my classmates, which is obviously less than ideal. 

Luckily, midterms are over though so I am a lot less stressed out. I do realize now why so many people who work from home have a set time that they review emails each day. I have always checked my email too often during the day. But now that I am home and communication has moved over to mostly email I am checking it constantly and it can be overwhelming. Now I’ve been making sure that I log off instead of being available for 24 hours a day so that I can have breaks. 

In previous editions of Grad Diaries, I mentioned that I was looking for research sites for the practical experience component of my program. Thankfully, progress has been made on finding a site and project, however I am still working on getting approval from my school’s research coordinator. With this semester ending in about a month, I am working hard to get everything set up to move forward with this part of my degree. And so far I am optimistic about getting it set up. 

Until next time,

Tatyana x